Description

The board is wooden (made of exotic hardwood), into which there are 21 half-inch diameter holes. Basically the positional shape of the holes is a five times five grid with corners removed:

5 ooo
4ooooo
3ooooo
2ooooo
1 ooo
 ABCDE

The dark player has seven dark shafted game pieces to control. The light player has seven light shafted game pieces to control. Each game piece is formed as a stick which will fit nicely into any of the holes. Each piece has coloured caps at the end in six combinations:

1.) yellow / orange
2.) orange / red
3.) red / purple
4.) purple / blue
5.) blue / green
6.) green / yellow

Game rules give the hint that these form a circle of colours. This information might help and can be used to find logical game strategies here.

The seventh piece being special is

7.) white / black

Colour white is used being a 'wild' (joker). It can be used as a legal replacement for any colour mentioned before.
Black is basically a blocker not representing any colour.

Players take alternating turns. When a game piece is placed in a hole one of the coloured end caps is obviously not visible anymore. Placing a game piece the non visible colour must be announced loudly and clearly enough to the opponent while setting the piece.

On his first turn a player must place one of his pieces into any free hole. After the first turn a turn consists of one of the following actions:

1.) Play another own offboard piece into another free hole, or
2.) Turn any one of your already played pieces upside down in the same hole (announcing the non visible colour towards the opponent clearly and loudly), or
3.) Move any one of your played pieces to another hole (but not turning it upside down)

The object is to get three of the same colour in a row (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) and the first player to do so wins. Since each player's set contains only two caps of each colour (as listed above), at least one of the three-in-a-row might has to be an opponent's piece.

The 'wild' game piece can only be played as soon as all other six pieces are already set before. This way you can build and win creating a three-in-a-row using own and/or opponent's white game piece as well. The black colour can not be used in a three-in-a-row constellation since it is used as a blocking piece only.

In general each player can only move game pieces with a shaft of own colour. But any game piece can be used to form the three-in-a-row to win.

Initially you draw by lot who goes first. In consecutive rounds the previous loser takes the first turn.

You might find similarities in game play like in Quarto (published in 1991, using opponent's pieces as well to form the winning row) and Memory (published in 1959, remembering the hidden colours is definitively helpful).

In contrast to Tau the newer Calypso does not include the aspect of a Memory game any longer. The colour which is not visible in Tau (and has to be announced each time) is still visible in Calypso due to the other construction of the game pieces.